Suspect charged in Ice Bar slaying

Tank Johnson refuses to take a polygraph

After a two-week hunt, police accused an alleged gang member out on parole of murdering the bodyguard of Chicago Bears lineman Terry "Tank" Johnson in a nightclub scuffle.

Michael Selvie, 34, did not know either Johnson or Willie B. Posey before bumping into Johnson in Ice Bar on Dec. 16, police said.

The two men exchanged words, but had parted peacefully before Posey, 26, who was also Johnson's boyhood friend and housemate, stepped in and hit Selvie, police said. That is when Selvie pulled out a gun and shot the bodyguard, said Lt. Anthony Riccio, acting commander of the Belmont Area detective headquarters.

Though the killing happened on a dance floor with plenty of witnesses, police struggled to get cooperation and consistent stories from those who were there, sources said.

Authorities hope Johnson will be a key witness in their case against Selvie, but sources familiar with the investigation said police have been frustrated by his changing account of events.

In the hours after the shooting, Johnson at first told police he was not at the bar, but later admitted that he was there. At one point, sources said, he described the gunman down to a gap between his teeth--but Johnson then failed to identify Selvie in a lineup Wednesday.

In an effort to get a complete and accurate account of what the football player saw, authorities asked him Wednesday to take a polygraph.

Lorna Propes, Johnson's lawyer said her client had been cooperative throughout the investigation, and she refused to allow the polygraph test.

"The state's attorney's office asked that Tank take a polygraph, and I refused because [the tests] are unreliable and there was absolutely no need to do that," she said. "Tank Johnson has been cooperative with the police every step of the way."

Just before police announced the charges Thursday night, Selvie's lawyer Jayne Ingles stood outside the Belmont Area headquarters with her client's mother, Essie Selvie, and said he was being railroaded by police desperate to make an arrest in a high-profile case.

"They wanted to make an arrest. It's a very high-profile case," she said. "So now they have one."

Selvie has invoked his right to remain silent and has not given any statements to police, Ingles said. When asked if Selvie was in Ice Bar the night of the shooting, Ingles declined to comment.

Suspect turns himself in

Ingles escorted Selvie to the police station at about 5 p.m. Tuesday after family members told him police were looking for him, she said. She said police raided his mother's and grandmother's house looking for him.

Riccio said officers behaved appropriately during the investigation.

Selvie, who lives in the 800 block of West 50th Place, was paroled from the Pontiac Correctional Center in April after serving two months on a felony conviction for driving on a revoked license. He previously served time in Illinois prisons for three drug convictions, according to state records.

Although Selvie's criminal history includes 30 arrests and seven felony convictions, Ingles said he has no record of violence. Selvie is expected to appear in Bond Court at noon Friday, according to state's attorney spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

Police got a break in the case through a combination of forensic evidence on a shirt Selvie allegedly left at the scene, as well as identifications of him from photographs taken at the club, Riccio said.

Eventually, tests showed that both Selvie's DNA and gunshot residue were on the shirt, law enforcement sources said, and some of the witnesses picked him out of lineups. Selvie's DNA has been on file with authorities since he was imprisoned earlier this year.

A source familiar with the investigation said one of the first indications that Selvie might be involved came from a fingerprint on a bottle that matched a relative of Selvie's who was a "known associate" of Selvie's in law enforcement records. That brought Selvie's name to their attention as they tried to figure out who was at the scene.

Victim's family relieved

Posey's mother, Alice Gaines, and three sisters were driving back from Forest Park Thursday after visiting his gravesite when they heard the news of Selvie's charges over the radio.

After arriving at their South Side home, Gaines said she felt relieved and grateful to the police, the media and witnesses who stepped forward.

"It's not going to bring him back, but it will put some closure for the family," she said, surrounded by her daughters. "I just hope that's the right person and they do a thorough investigation."

Gaines said Johnson, 26, is a close family friend and said that she does not blame the football player for not taking the polygraph or initially denying to police that he was at the bar.

"When something like this happens we get scared and with him being a celebrity [it's understandable]," Gaines said.